Candles
by Juliet's Shadow
Summary: Fifteen years after the fall of the Dark Lord a new one rises, stronger than anyone has ever seen. Eight Hogwarts students must prove their strength unless they wish to die. Co-written with Mikey Jacquez.
1. Chapter 1

This chapter was written by: Juliet's Shadow

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Prologue- The Sorting Hat

_Stay close believe  
Though things are not what they seem  
I won't let them destroy these dreams _

_Headmaster_

It never ceases to amaze me when I see first years come into Hogwarts for the first time. Some with older siblings know what is coming and look around for a familiar face or two. There are also those who come from families with no magic what so ever. Their eyes are as big as the moon, as they look for strings and wires that they think are holding the candles in place. They don't realize everything is magic yet.

The group this year isn't too big, only eight students, but I have seen smaller classes. I can see them staying clumped together, trying to not make eye contact with the person beside them. The only ones who look comfortable with the other is a pair of kids who look like they are brother and sister, perhaps cousins. They both have black hair and olive skin and mysterious gray eyes. Both are small and lean and look like they can fight.

There was also a boy who one could tell would be extremely handsome in years to come. He had bronze skin and dark golden hair and had a charming smile. Everything about him screamed handsome. He was also the third biggest in the group, being shorter than two blonde boys.

The first blonde boy had a muscular build and big blue eyes. I could recognize him as a Mellark. His two brothers already attended here. They all had a similar look about them in the same way the Weasly's did.

I vaguely recognized the second blonde boy as well. He was the biggest of the group. I could tell he was brother to two of our students, Cashmere and Gloss because they kept making eye contact, but they had the same bone structure and same bright green eyes. They were all stunning to look at as well.

There was a small girl with dark auburn hair going down to her waist. She had a smart, clever and calculating look about her. She didn't look like she could be held down easily. The look in her dark blue eyes reflected that.

At the front of the group was a girl with similar stature of the auburn hair girl. She looked confident. Her eyes were ready to fight, and were little more than pieces of ice in an olive skinned body. She also had the darkest hair –besides the cousins or siblings- pulled into a pony tail. The scattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks made her seem like less of a threat that the rest of her implied.

The last student was the hardest to find. She was the smallest, height wise, and looked like a scared deer. She had big, beautiful dark brown eyes, the same color as her hair that came halfway down her back. She looked terrified and confused and I could tell from that, that she was muggle born. I saw Mags, the Head of House of Ravenclaw, consoling the poor girl. She gave her a pat on the back and wished her luck as she took her seat beside the rest of the teachers.

"Welcome to another fine year at Hogwarts, students!" I start with my speech as I do every year I have been teaching here. I read off my paper, introducing new teachers, making announcements about stairwells not allowed to be used and other tidbits of information. Nothing has been said of any danger in years. I can only hope there are no dangers again.

Professor Trinket, a young woman with pastel blue hair and features to match her outrageous hair-do, steps up holding the Sorting Hat in her hands.

"Now, when I call your name you will step up and I will place the sorting hat on your head. It will tell you what house you belong to. You will then go sit with your newly appointed house and wait there until the end of the feast. Good luck!" She looked at the scroll and called out the name at the top. She had always done it in alphabetical order since I got here. "Annie Cresta!"

The little doe girl with the big brown eyes was called up first. She looked taken aback and terrified. I could see Ravenclaws looking at her with disapproving eyes and could hear Slytherins snickering. I gave the two houses a sharp look and they quit instantly. "Come on up, Miss Cresta. We aren't going to hurt you." Effie had a way with dealing with new students. If they were timid she could make them feel welcome. She was very kind, although when one broke the rules of etiquette, she became very hostile. She reached a hand out for the shy young girl, and the girl took it. She placed Annie on the seat and placed the hat on her head.

"Well, it is no question where this girl should go. She is bright and loyal but above all else, she is kind! Hufflepuff!" Effie smiled and helped direct the girl where she should go. The cheering and welcoming Hufflepuffs made a spot for the small girl between two of the kindest seventh years in the school. I love how they have their little traditions of putting first years by seventh years. It makes them feel welcome in a way only Hufflepuff can.

Effie smiles and continues down the list. "Katniss Everdeen!" The female of the sibling-cousins comes up, looking very confident, but not cocky. She gives one last look to the boy and the hat is placed on her head.

"Very interesting." The Sorting Hat in contemplation which house she should go in. She is probably like Hermione, either belonging to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Finally, after a long pause of silence it yells her house. "This girl is smart and quick but she has courage that can't be compared to; Gryffindor!" She smiles and walks over to the cheering table and sits on the very end and turns her attention to the front.

"Gale Hawthorne!" The boy out of the two of them walks up. Since they have different last names I suppose they are cousins. Effie places the hat onto the boy's head. He looks just as confident as Katniss but still not arrogant. He looks around very eager, very intelligently. It doesn't surprise me when I hear the house get called. "He is smart and can think his way out of any situation using any means to do it; Ravenclaw!"

I look out the corner of my eye and see Mags smiling. She is happy to get a young wizard into her house. The amount of young wizards in recent years has decreased by a lot. Effie looks down at her scroll again. "Johanna Mason!"

The girl with the long auburn hair walks up. She appears to be very intellectual and ready to do anything she can. I'm sure she is very ambitious too. I am certain she is Slytherin. "This young woman is just as smart the last young man. She seems to be anything she needs to be. Beware for she isn't as innocent as she seems. Ravenclaw!"

Although I wasn't expecting it, it still makes sense. There are only four more students waiting for their name and fate. "Peeta Mellark!" The sorting hat was placed on the young boys head, although no one had any doubt where he would go. "You belong with your brothers! Hufflepuff!" Peeta let out a relieved sigh I didn't noticed he was holding, and walked over to the Hufflepuff table where they were cheering. He sat between his oldest brother, a seventh year, and one of his brother's friends, another seventh year, and across from Annie Cresta.

Slytherin looked rather annoyed when there was no one called over to their house yet. I am sure one of these remaining students would prove to be in their house. Effie looked at the remaining first years and smiled. "Finnick Odair!" The handsome boy with the dark golden hair walked up to the front. He looked easy going and laid back, but kind and confident too. When Effie put the hat on his head he smiled.

The sorting hat took no time in thinking of its answer, though it had never seen a wizard of him or his family before. "You are noble, brave, good and true; you are loyal and nothing will ever sway you. Gryffindor!" Finnick jumped off the seat and made his way, proudly, over to the table or cheering Gryffindors. There was extreme distaste coming from the Slytherins. They always had someone right now.

There were two children left, the girl with eyes like ice, and Cashmere and Gloss' brother. Effie looked at the two children and looked at the scroll. "Clove Reeves!"

The girl with ice eyes came up and Effie placed the hat on her head. "This girl is cunning, quick witted, ambitious, proud and strong. She has earned the title of Slytherin!"

The Slytherins cheered loudly for the young girl, who came and sat on the edge of the bench. When the cheering died down Effie read the last name on the scroll. "Cato Sheers!"

No one had any doubt where he would go. It was confirmed when the hat was placed on his head. "You are to join your siblings in Slytherin!"

After the conclusion of the sorting the wizards all started to indulge into the feast. I couldn't take my eyes off this group of young wizards. There was something special, but dangerous about this group of young ones. I don't know what it is though.

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_Hi guys! Juliet here! I am one of the two authors writing this story. I am a Hufflepuff (don't laugh, my dad did when I told him that) and my heart belongs in District 4. I am best known for my Hunger Games stories, Search all of the Alaskan Sky for You and Graceland, which is currently being written in addition to this story. MikeyJacquez (his fanfiction pen) has written the story Convergent, a Divergent and Hunger Games crossover, which he is also writing in addition to this story. Please check us both out if you have a chance! I will be writing from the POV's of Finnick, Annie, Johanna and Clove. I also wrote from the Headmaster's POV. Mikey is writing the POV's of Katniss, Peeta, Gale and Cato. It would make Mikey and I so incredibly happy if you left us a review saying how we did! We would love it a lot :) Please and thank you!_

_What's up, guys?! (By the way, this isn't Juliet's Shadow, it's Mikey Jacquez!) I just want to tell all of you that me and Juliet's Shadow will be working on this story together. The process we're going to do is switching off chapters, meaning she'll do one, I'll do the next, she'll do the one after that, and so on. Anyway, I'm really excited for this and I'm sure it'll be a ton of fun! I hope all of you guys enjoyed this chapter, which was written beautifully by Juliet's Shadow, and I can't wait to see you guys' feedback. We're glad we started this (Juliet's Shadow came up with the idea and I'm thankful that she did) and we hope you guys will love this! Thank you! And let us know what you guys think so far!:D_


	2. Welcome Back

This chapter was written by: Juliet's Shadow

_Guest: Well we are glad you got a pleasant surprise! We do hope you continue to enjoy the story. We have a lot of ideas for it._

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Chapter 1- Welcome Back

_Come out upon my seas  
Cursed missed opportunities _

_Finnick_

Gathering in the Great Hall right before the start of the term for the feast is one of my favorite traditions. I love being able to enjoy the delicious food set out and prepared for us. I'm sitting down to enjoy the feast next to my best friend, Katniss Everdeen. I can't help but get slightly disgruntled as I see the lack of food in front of us. We must wait on the sorting.

Apparently, fifteen years ago, it wasn't uncommon for as many as twenty to forty new students to attend Hogwarts each year, but now having ten students join the ranks of our was a big success. There have been less and less students attending Hogwarts because of the battle that took place here fifteen years ago. It's strange yet we all have to live with it. It means all of us here are much more important.

I seldom pay attention to those outside my own house. That's normal too. We have our classes, but we don't interact. There are only eight of us in our year, so one would think we would all know each other very well. We don't. We get help from the teacher if we need assistance and our partner is our house partner. I barely know all their names.

There are twelve new students this year, a record. We are steadily starting to grow back in numbers increasing by one or so every couple years. I lean over to Katniss, my voice low as I examine the first years. "You think any of them are going to join Gryffindor?"

Katniss looks at them all and nods. "I'm sure several of them could be in Gryffindor." She examines them once again. "See the boy with the dark hair and gray eyes standing on the side?"

I nod. "Is that your cousin as well?" I smirk. Katniss punches my arm in retaliation.

"You know perfectly well Gale isn't my cousin. We just grew up together, living in the same area. It was mostly muggles, so when we both learned we came from families that came from Hogwarts, we immediately became friends. Prim and his brother are the same age as well. I don't see why we can't all be friends." She looks back at the students. "Anyway, yes, he is Gale's brother. His name is Vick. I'm sure he is going to be Gryffindor."

I give her a questioning look. "Why do you say that? He may be like his brother and join Ravenclaw."

Katniss smiles. "Rory is a Gryffindor. He fits in perfectly. Vick is more like Rory while their littlest sister, Posy is more like Gale, though it wouldn't surprise me if she was Hufflepuff."

I snort. "Those weaklings? How are they even a house? I have no idea how they managed to win the house cup last year."

Katniss shrugs and looks at the students. Effie Trinket, the Deputy Headmistress and the head of Hufflepuff is holding a scroll in one hand and holding the legendary Sorting Hat in another. "Candice Atstone." A cute little blonde girl with bright, intelligent blue eyes steps up to the stool to have the hat placed on her.

The hat takes a few moments to decide the little girl's fate before it announces. Finally the voice yells "Ravenclaw!"

We go through the entirety of the sorting and a few stick out to me. A little boy named Mikey who got sorted into Hufflepuff, a little girl named Katie was also sorted into Hufflepuff and a girl named Grace was also sorted into Gryffindor. Total, we had three first years join our house, a boy named Fernando, Grace and Vick.

When the sorting was over, we finally got to dig in. The three new students were looking up to Teddy Lupin, a year below me, with big eyes. Harry Potter was his godfather. They couldn't believe it, it seemed. They didn't even touch the most delicious treacle fudge because they were too busy staring to notice it. I grabbed it and passed it over to Katniss, who gave me a gracious smile. "Thanks!" She started to eat the delicacy with a wide smile. "This is delicious!"

I nod. "It truly is!" I am eating my fudge when a person catches my eye. There isn't anything very special about the person who catches my eye, brown hair and eyes, medium build and on the skinner side with the brown hair going halfway down their back. It is a girl I should know fairly well, considering she is in all my classes, but I seldom talk to her. Her name is Annie, I think. Behind her back, people call her the beauty of Hufflepuff. We all have our nicknames. I know mine is The Sex God, but that was because Katniss thought I looked like the kind of guy who would bang everyone at the start of last year.

I am snapped out of my thoughts by Katniss, her looking my way and snapping her fingers in front of my face. "What's up with you, Odair?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. I was just wondering what the other houses were like."

Katniss gives me a look and shrugs. We eventually are dismissed to go to our dormitory. I stand outside the portrait of the Fat Lady and say the password I learned from a prefect, a year older than me. "Feather Whisker." The Fat Lady swings the entrance open and Katniss and I enter.

"What do you think Gale thinks about his brother being put into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw, like him?" Katniss asks me.

I shrug. "How am I supposed to know? You're the one who is best friends with him."

Katniss rolls her eyes. "Hey, you're my best friend too. I was just wondering. I know I would've been worried if Prim was put into a different house."

I smirk and roll my eyes back at her. "Nah, Prim had to be sorted into this house. Red is an excellent color on her."

Katniss waves goodbye to me when we reach the separation of the stairs. "Whatever, Odair. I'll see you tomorrow. We have Quidditch try outs coming up, don't we? You're Captain this year, aren't you? I want to practice to make sure I get my spot on the team as a Seeker, once again."

Katniss then goes upstairs, disappearing behind the stairs. I do the same thing and plop down on my bed where my golden feathered barn owl, Fisher, is waiting for me, looking at me with big black eyes. "What?"

Fisher jumps off his perch and lands on my arm, lifting his head up affectionately so I can scratch him better. "There you go, boy. I'm going to go to bed. Bring me back some chocolate from home, will ya?" My owl spreads his wings and leaves out the common room window for the night. He knows the route from my house back to the dorm room easily. He likes to fly that route too. I'm giving him a gift more than getting myself one by making him fly there.

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_Hey guys! Juliet here! I wrote this chapter, by my amazing partner in crime is writing the next one. Please leave us a review to tell us your thoughts because they do mean a lot to us! Please and thank you! Also, whatever Mikey says about him not being as good as an author as me, it is a complete lie! He is amazing! _

_Here's Chapter 1 guys! I obviously didn't write this chapter but I will write the next one. We actually got a review! Thank you to all of you who have been reading and I hope this turns out good for you guys! Remember, the next chapter will be mine; however, it won't be as good as this one._

_We would like to thank silverVOID for adding this to their favorites list! Thanks a ton!_

_We would also like to thank our follower. It means a lot!_

_-Juliet and Mikey_


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